Varanus teriae was described from animals previously assigned to V.prasinus by Czerchura (1980). It is believed to have a very restricted range of possibly less than 100km2 in the Iron and McIlwraith ranges of the Cape York Peninsular in Queensland (McDonald et al 1991). It is more heavily built than other monitors of the prasinus group and is distinguished by its conical throat scales and unusual pattern. A colour drawing is provided by Sprackland (1992). Near the Claudie River they have been seen foraging in leaf litter and on trees and are known to feed on insects (orthopterans, roaches and beetles - Irwin 1994).

Our pet-owners' guide to savannah monitor lizard is the first ever
written by people who have studied the animals in the wild and bred them
in captivity. There are at least seven books in print about the savannah
monitor, but we think this is the only one worth reading! Last few
available

Since 1999 the Butaan Project has been studying the rare, endangered, and unique fruit-eating monitor lizards of the Philippines. Butaan is just one of several races of frugivorous monitor lizards in the Philippines ("Pandan Biawak"), all of which are of at least as great a conservation concern as the Komodo dragon, but receive virtually none of the attention. Pandan Biawak occur only in lowland dipterocarp forest. The first species (Butaan) was discovered in 1845 and not seen alive by a scientist until the late 1970s. The next species (Mabitang) was discovered in 2001. Other species remain undescribed, and some may have gone extinct without ever having been recognised.